Dairy Queen
by loonyluvgood
Summary: It only took one summer for Draco to fall for Hermione...but it could take awhile for her to fall back! A dairy aisle romance. :
1. Chapter 1

"What do you think Hermione? 2%, 1%, calcium fortified?? How do muggles keep track of all these different kinds of milk?" Ginny asked impatiently to her friend at the local muggle grocery store. Ginny was visiting Hermione at her home on a lazy summer day, just a week before school was about to begin again. "Whatever Gin, just leave the milk to me..I'll meet you by the bread."

Ginny shrugged and walked away, leaving Hermione to her thoughts.

"Ah…it's a beautiful day to prank on some unsuspecting muggles, isn't it Blaise?" Draco Malfoy said, as he scanned the produce section, giving seemingly invisible wedgies to the muggles he passed.

"You seem upbeat this morning. What's wrong with you Draco?" he said suspiciously. "I just feel like today I'm going to get very lucky…"

"Right, well I—Whoa! Take a look at her!" Blaise Zambini said, pointing towards a beautiful muggle girl leaning over the chocolate milk.

Blaise took a step forward, but Draco held him back.

"Don't even think about it Blaise, I saw her first." Draco said with as smile as Blaise leaned against the bananas angrily.

"Hello Gorgeous!" Draco exclaimed, standing over her. The girl seemed not to notice. "What do you want?" she said.

"Well, if your not too busy, I'd like to explain to you a very pressing matter that could affect the very grocery store you are shopping in! You see, I'm the king of this grocery store, and quite unfortunately, my queen left me for another just last week. So here I am, in the dairy section, waiting for a beautiful girl like you to

take the throne," he said with a smile, exposing his clean white teeth.

"Oh really?" the girl said, turning to face him.

"Hermione!!?!?!?!?" Draco said, taken aback by Hermione's change in appearance since he last saw her. "What are you doing here?!"

"Shouldn't the king of the grocery store know that?" she said very cooly as she plucked a vanilla yogurt into her basket.

Draco turned a bright shade of red.

"Sorry…it's just..I…you look.._different,"_ he said, half whispering the last part. And it was true. Her once bushy hair was now spiraled into soft, bouncy curls and her eyes were like oceans of chocolate.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment? Look Malfoy, I know who you are. You're the same cruel, evil, pureblood pretty-boy whose pushed me around since the day we met." she said, walking away towards the cheese.

Draco ran after her in protest.

"But I'm not that guy anymore! I've changed, dairy queen!" he said with a look of vindication.

"Your right. You have changed—into a smooth talking wise guy. Not a big improvement! And I'm not your dairy queen!" she said, storming to checkout.

And as she did, all she could think about was one thing…

_He called me Hermione.. _

Draco walked back to Blaise, who was now laughing hysterically. "Nice one, king of the grocery store! You just hit on mudblood!"

"Don't call her that!" he shouted.

"Protecting your little dairy queen?" he said, still laughing.

"Shut up! I can't believe it didn't work! Girls love it when I turn on the charm!" he said arrogantly.

"Sorry to break it to you mate, but you did taunt her and her closest friends for the last 6 years." he said matter of factly.

"Good point."

_I'll get dairy queen someday. If it's the last thing I do.._

"He called you his dairy queen!?!" Ginny exclaimed as Hermione told the story at her kitchen table.

"Yeah..bottom line, worst pickup line I've ever heard," she said rolling her eyes.

"And this is Draco Malfoy? Since when did he turn into bachelor of the month?" Ginny said, still as utterly confused as you probably are.

"I don't know what's gotten into him..but let me tell you right now, I'm not falling for it," Hermione lied.

"I dunno…if it was anyone but Malfoy…" Ginny admitted.

"Ginny! Don't tell me your buying into this!"

"I'm not! I'm just saying…it was kind of sweet."

"Yeah..well..whatever. Just pass me the milk."


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione felt the warm steam of the Hogwarts Express on her face. Her cheeks turned a rosy pink as she clutched her books. One thing Malfoy had been right about was that she was different. She felt different. Like something unexpected was about to happen…but only time would tell if would be for the best.

She glanced over at the first-years as they scrambled towards Hagrid. And as she did, she turned around to see Harry and Ron with Ginny, who she had seen the week before. "Hey 'Mione!" Ron said excitedly.

"Hey Ron..what are you so peppy about? You usually hate going back to school," she said suspiciously. "Yeah..usually I would be…until I got this!" he said, flashing a crumpled and heavily read piece of paper in her face. She read it and her excitement grew. "Ron! You're a prefect!"

"_We're_ prefects!" he said with a wide grin. Hermione smiled until she read further. The list of prefects went on. Ravenclaw-Cho Chang, Michael Corner, Hufflepuff-Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Slytherin- Tracey Davis, _Draco Malfoy_. Hermione groaned. The first prefect meeting was that Thursday. She had managed to avoid him since the milk incident, but it would be impossible now.

The Great Hall was crowded with people for dinner that night. Everyone shared the excitement of new Gryffindors..but Hermione found it hard to focus during the sorting. Even the smell of the warm pumpkin juice couldn't grab her attention. All she could think about was the dread of having to see Draco at the end of the week. Or was it dread?

Blaise ran to catch up to Draco before Potions the next day. Draco seemed equally distant. "So..prefect eh?" he asked casually.

"Uh..yeah." Draco said as he gathered his books in his hands. "Happy about seeing mudblood Thursday?" Blaise smirked.

"Not now Blaise.." Draco said frowning.

"Oh come on Draco….you think I'd forget about your little encounter with your pretty blood traitor friend? I wonder what the guys would say if they knew…"

"Blaise! Don't even think about it. I don't care about her. I don't hate her anymore…but I don't care about the girl," he replyed. "But your supposed to hate her…what would your father say?" Blaise reminded him.

"I'm not my father." Draco said, walking away from what he knew was the truth.

The next day, Hermione stared at the essay on her desk in Charms class, puzzled. No grade, but a quick note scratched on the parchment. _See me after class._ Hermione could barely keep her eyes from the clock, dreading the moment class would be over. Hermione had never been in any kind of trouble before…that was Harry and Ron's thing. But when the bell rang, Hermione continued to Professer Flitwick's desk, awaiting an answer. "Miss Granger. Have a seat." he said, pointing to the chair in front of his desk. But Hermione did not sit down. "Professor…have I done anything wrong?" she stammered.

"Unfourtunately, your work is not up to its usual high standard this week Miss Granger. This paper is unorganized and obviously not very well thought out. I'll have to give you a D, for Dreadful. You're one of my best students, and I expect that you won't make this a regular habit?" Hermione shook her head. "Very well. You may go." he said, opening the door with his wand. Hermione grabbed her bag and walked out the door, hot tears streaming down her face. _Dreadful! How did I do so terribly? What's happening to me..._ She tried to forget about the paper that evening, but she found it harder and harder to concentrate…in fact..she found herself slipping away into deep sleep.

"Hermione..HERMIONE! Wake up! The prefects meeting started 15 minutes ago!" Ron said, shaking her awake. Hermione nervously glanced at her watch. "Oh my gosh!" Hermione said, running to grab her backpack and wand. Perhaps she could get some of her homework done during the prefects meeting..

"Order! Order everyone! We have some business to attend to people! Now that everyone is _present…" _Mrs. McGonagall said, glaring at Hermione, "we can begin. The first order of business…patrolling schedules. Who has the first shift? Hermione, I believed I asked you to make the schedule for the week? Do you have it?"

"Yes..its in here somewhere," she said, looking somewhat disheveled but nevertheless organized. She pulled out the schedule she had made. "Yes..first shift..Hannah and Ernie. 2nd shift..Cho and Ron. 3rd shift…myself and..er..Malfoy." she said frowning. Draco forced an angry look to hide his pleasure. "Thank you, Miss Granger. Patrolling hours shall start tomorrow afternoon, during the first hogesmede trip. You may enjoy yourselves for a time, but please keep careful watch of all students." _I know something I'll be carefully watching.._ Draco thought to himself with a smile.

Hermione and Ron scanned through a bookstore in Hogsmede the next afternoon. Hermione was quite focused on avoiding Malfoy, so she stayed by Ron most of the shift. "Why are we here looking at books when we could be eating jelly beans that taste like the inside of your nose? The candy shop is right next door," Ron groaned.

"Because Ron, some people have other things to do than experiment with disgusting candies. Anyway, Malfoy wouldn't dare go in here.."

"Ah, your wrong about that my dear," Draco said with a smile. Hermione looked up from her novel with disgust.

"Excuse me while I barf, Malfoy." Ron said repulsed, as he left the shop. "Go ahead, Weasel," Draco hissed. Hermione tried to reach out and grab Ron back, but she was too late. "Ron—wait! Don't!" Hermione let out a heavy sigh. "You really thought I'd let you go, Dairy Queen?" Draco said, obviously enjoying this very much.

"Are you king of the bookstore now too? Ever try leaving someone alone?" she said, brushing past him to pick up another book.

"Well Miss Granger, I'm only doing my job as prefect and watching over students who need my protection," he said innocently.

"Well unfortunately for your Royal Stupidity, I am not one of them!"

She tried to walk away from him, but he cornered her by the picture books.

She sighed heavily again.

"Who are you, Draco Malfoy? One minute your this evil little brat who pushes me around in front of your friend, and the next, you're a..I don't know what to call you! Its like you have some kind of split personality!"

For the first time, Draco frowned. "It's not that simple!" he said, looking her in the eyes. "I promise you, Dairy Queen…I'm not going to be two people anymore. I'm going to be different. And I don't care what my stupid slytherin friends think." Hermione turned her back to him, pretending to be absolutely engrossed in "Stinky Sam's Stupid Spell book". "Why should I believe you?" she said.

And with a puff of smoke, he seemed to disappear. She turned around, and on the table that used to hold mystery books, a plate of cookies, a note, and—of course—a glass of milk.

_Meet me in the Forbidden Forest this Saturday night._

_---King Malfoy_

Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering what would happen if she went..or what would happen if she didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

"….and prefects are expected to uphold the highest standards here at Hogwarts. And if you cannot comply with that Miss Granger, I'm afraid I might have to strip you of your prefects badge. Do you understand?" Professor McGonagall said in a cold tone.

"Y-y-yes, Professor." Hermione said, not able to stop the tears long enough to get out the door. She got up to leave, but McGonagall stopped her. "Hermione dear…I don't mean to be harsh. You've always been one of my best students. Is something wrong?" Hermione looked at her, and replied, "I don't know…" as she closed the door behind her.

Everything was wrong. She felt so tired all the time. Headaches were constantly pounding at her head. Her grades had been falling steadily. Her parents were furious…her father wasn't even speaking to her. Harry and Ron didn't seem to care about her problems; they were too consumed in their own. She felt like there was nowhere left to turn.

That night, she didn't sleep. She stayed in the Gryffindor common room, staring at the burning fire. She glanced at her watch. 3 am.

Sobbing quietly, she took Draco's note out of her pocket. It was torn slightly, and crumpled on the edges. _Meet me in the Forbidden Forest this Saturday night. _She had never really even considered going. But now she just needed to do something. To get away. To feel something instead of the pain and worry of letting everyone down. Could Draco ever be the friend she needed? _Maybe I'll just go to see what he wants….just for fun..if it could really be called fun to go see Malfoy.._

she thought. But another part of her was telling her that she was just setting herself up to be hurt again. " 'Mione? Is that you?" a familiar voice said. Ginny. "Hermione?"

"Yeah..its me." Hermione stammered, trying to wipe away the tears.

"Hermione? What are you doing down here so late?" Ginny asked with concern.

"I couldn't sleep…I just needed to think."

"About this?" Ginny said, picking up Draco's note.

"Yeah….I dunno…I don't think I'm going to go."

"But Hermione….I've noticed something different about Draco too. He isn't the same..and it might be a good thing."

"Ginny..honestly…I might be believing him. I mean…I've been in so much pain lately…even before the school year started. But every time he's been there…at the grocery store, the book shop, the prefect's meeting..he makes everything.."

"Beautiful." They said together.

"Then that settles it." Ginny said with a smile.

"Settles what?"

"You have to go. You just have to."

"Ginny…I don't know…I—"

"Hermione. Look at me. This could be your last chance."

"To do what?"

"To get the guy who is in love with you before he gets away."

Hermione looked at the fire again. She put it out with her wand, and she and Ginny walked up the stairs to their beds together.

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I've been sick these last couple days…ok I know this one was really short, but this ones leading up to a long one, I promise!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm glad you came, dairy queen."

Hermione had walked for about a mile before reaching the Forbidden Forest that Saturday evening. Most Hogwarts students were at the Quiddatch game, but only Ginny noticed Hermione and Draco were not there. Hermione looked down at her shoes, not knowing where to begin.

"Why am I here, Draco?"

He was silent as he walked through the dark brush, motioning for her to follow. "Take your shoes off. You won't need them where we are going," he said with a smile. She put her shoes in the pocket of her robes and followed him. "Where are we going?" she asked earnestly.

"You'll see. But until you do, lets just talk. Ask me anything,".

Hermione thought for a moment. There was so many things she had wondered about him, even before the incident at the grocery store.

But she figured the beginning was a good place to start.

"When did you find out you were a wizard?"

He paused, and then answered, "Not to sound conceited, but I think I always knew…that I was different. I wasn't exactly surprised when my parents told me. I had noticed strange things about them from the beginning. They never hid their powers from me until I could understand what was happening…they really didn't care about what was going through my mind."

"Were they still…uh..you know..back then?"

"Killing people? Yes..the Dark Lord was at his height of power…and they didn't want to miss a second of it. Nothing was more important to them than serving Voldemort. Nothing."

Hermione looked at him remorsefully. "Not even you?"

He looked at her with a weak smile. "Especially not me." He turned his back to her. "My father didn't want anything to do with me. I think he realized from the beginning that I was a mistake."

Tears sprinkled Hermione's cheeks. Draco had needed someone more than any of them knew, and all this time Hermione had never given him a second thought. "That's not true." she told him. But in her heart, she only wished she wasn't lying.

"Don't even bother. I've known that it's the truth since before I could remember."

He stopped short and smiled.

"My turn."

They kept walking and Draco said, "What made you decide to come tonight?"

She sat down on a log below an apple tree. "I wanted to know why you were doing this. Chasing after a girl like me. I wanted to know what you could possibly want with a geeky mudblood. Your the last person I haven't let down yet. And I wanted it stay that way. If I didn't come…I'd be letting down someone who apparently cares about me now."

Draco reached out to touch her face. "You could never let me down."

He looked up at the sun as it finally dipped into the ground.

"It's getting dark." he lit his wand and stuck it in the dirt, like a campfire.

Hermione laid down on the soft grass in the clearing. He laid down next to her.

"My turn." she said looking up at the moon.

"Where were we going to go tonight?"

"To tell you the truth, dairy queen, nowhere. I just needed an excuse to be with you. "

She ran her fingers through his hair. "Thank you."

"My turn." he chuckled.

"What really happened with your dad?"

Hermione didn't wonder how he found out. Even her muggle parents had figured out how to send a howler.

"It wasn't really about my grades dropping." Hermione said, choking back tears, looking away from Draco.

"I told him I didn't want to see him anymore…I told him I wasn't coming back home after Hogwarts. I knew I couldn't live up to what they wanted anymore. I was done being their perfect daughter. I knew once I got home, I would have to prove myself all over again. For once…I wanted someone to love me for no reason at all."

Hermione's hands found his. "My turn."

"Why did you keep chasing me after what happened in the grocery store?" she asked.

Draco smiled. "That's an easy one. That day in the grocery store was one of the best days of my life…you asked me why I had suddenly changed. It was you. When you turned around and I saw your beautiful face….it was…electrifying."

He stroked her soft hair. " I wanted to spend everyday with you. You made me not want to be…..evil… anymore. For the first time, I wanted something worthwhile. And I had to have it." he said looking into her eyes.

The light coming from the tip of his wand slowly began to dim as he reached out to touch her face. He leaned in to her as their lips melted together. She held his hands for what seemed like forever. Even after they broke apart, their eyes locked with intensity. It was magic.

_Several Years Later…_

"I'm home!" Draco announced as he came through the door and set his coat down.

He leaned over to kiss his wife on the cheek, but she stopped him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Um…How was your day?" Draco asked nervously.

"No! You forgot to pick up Lena from the daycare! Your lucky the Potters had time to fly her over here! Not to mention you're an hour late!" she huffed angrily.

"Lena! Oh..no..I'm sorry dear, really, it was just a busy day at the ministry and I—"

"Save it! I have to go the store to pick up some milk for dinner. I'll be back later." Hermione said, grabbing her purse off the counter.

"I'm sorry, dairy queen."

Hermione stopped and turned around.

"You haven't called me that since we were kids."

Draco walked over to her and smiled. "Well, I'm afraid I'm in need of a queen once again, so here I am, waiting for a beautiful girl like you to take the throne."

Hermione couldn't stay mad for long. "I accept." He kissed her again, and she grabbed her broomstick to leave for the store.

But before she could leave, Draco picked her up into his arms and ran up the stairs. "To the royal bedchambers!"

**Thanks so much for reading my fan fiction! I hoped you liked it!! Happy Holidays!!**

**Oh, and by the way, I have absolutely no idea what to do for my next fan fiction, so if you have any ideas for pairings, storyline etc I'm open to anything so just leave a review or message me!! ******


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